Persona:Minato's new road
by Heroheart
Summary: 3 have passed since Minato sealed away Nyx, but now something has brought Minato back to the world of the living. Unsure of what to do or where to go Minato sets out alone to find out why he's here,but where to start? warning violence and strong language.
1. Prolouge part 1

"So, have you made a decision?" said Ryoji, Minato said nothing he was spacing out still thinking it over.

"What do I do? I…I don't want to run away from this…but if I do kill him and I end up fighting Nyx, how will everyone deal with this? Everyone says they're ok and ready to bring down Nyx but, what if they die? All that suffering, pain and death….it'll all be my fault. I'm not afraid of dying after everything that's happened this year, but what if I'm not strog enough to take Nyx down? Everyone will die from my weakness…Junpei….Mitsuru…..Akihiko…Ken….Koromaru…Fuuka…Aigis…..and…..Yukari" he kept thinking what to do and kept thinking which choice was right. Finally Ryoji nudged his shoulder waking him from his deep thoughts.

"Hey are you ok Minato-san?"

"What? Oh uh yeah, I'm ok."

"Alright, have you made your choice, please don't let the idea of killing me influence your decision." Minato then realized something, if he killed Ryoji, forgot everything, and let the fall happen what good would it be? He remembered what he told Yukari when she asked his reason for fighting; he said to her that his reason for fighting isn't to prove something or to gain anything, but to protect the people he cared about from being hurt. He promised that as long as there is a breath in his lungs, a beat in his heart, he'll protect everyone from harm. If he killed Ryoji he would be breaking that promise.

"Ryoji, I've made up my mind."

"Good, what's your decision?"

"Ryoji, I'm not going to kill you." Ryoji's face saddened as he heard that

"I didn't want to show you this, but I guess I have no choice." Suddenly Ryoji changed his form right before Minato's eyes, Minato was shocked to see what was in front of him, Ryoji had become a human sized version of Thanatos, his persona.

"Wait so then, that night…..the night I first summoned my persona…..that was" Ryoji interrupted him before Minato could finish

"Yes, now you see the truth…..I'm not human, so you shouldn't have second thoughts on killing me. So what is your decision now?" Minato stood up straight, he knew what he had to do he knew the easy way out was killing him but Minato didn't always do things the easy way.

"Ryoji, this world, this life, it belongs to us. It belongs to everybody, it's the greatest gift we have as human beings, and it's our home if nothing else. So my answer is we will stay, we will live, we will fight, and we will win." Ryoji changed back to his human form after Minato's declaration of hope.

"Very well, it's your life and your decision…..so I'll respect the choice you have made. But know this there is no going back after this choice is made final." Minato nodded

"That's just a risk I'll have to take then."

"Nyx can't be defeated you know, it's impossible."

"Well she's undefeatable because she's never been defeated her and nobody's defeated her because nobody's ever tried. Nothing impossible not after everything I've, no, we've gone through up to this point. I believe that together we can win." The two walked out of the room and down stairs to tell the others the news.


	2. prolouge part 2:Minato's perspective

After the long battle against Nyx, Minato and the others defeated Nyx. Minato used every single bond he made the past year and brought it all together with his ultimate persona, Messiah, to seal Nyx away forever but at the cost of his own life. In turn for sealing Nyx Minato had to become one with the seal since his will power and bonds with the others was what sealed Nyx in the first place and only his life force itself was the only thing at the time that could hold her in. Time was running out for Minato in this life, as he woke up to what seemed to be only a day after the battle with Nyx.

~Minato Point of view~

I don't really remember very well from what happened directly after I fought Nyx, but from what I do remember was this big blank feeling. I awoke to find out that none of my friends remembered anything about the dark hour, tatarus, or the battle with Nyx (well for that time anyway) Aigis seemed to be the only one who could remember it all and she said I only had a few weeks to live. If you only had that amount of time left what's the first thing that comes to mind? For most it's doing all the stuff you haven't done yet in life, but I really never thought that much about what I wanted to do with my life. So I did what I wasn't this past year, a normal high school student. I hadn't care in the world for the moments I had left; I mean after all THAT who would? Finally it was graduation day, my time was running out, I started to lose the feeling in my body little by little. I went up to the roof remembering the promise I made to everyone to meet there, even though the feeling in my legs was almost gone. I had one other thing to do before I went; I made a bag of mementos for all my friends that I stored in this bag I kept with me this past month. I kept a letter inside the bag; for I knew as soon as I went the memories of the dark hour would all flow back. I started to become more and more tired as the minutes passed, I thought for a moment that this was it I would pass the bag on before I go. I closed my eyes for just moment for short rest, I opened the Aigis was holding me looking very sad. She was saying something but I can't fully remember it all, I do remember a promise though. She said to me that she will live her life protecting me, I saw her cry as I drifted away I wiped her tears from her face saying "Don't cry, everything will be okay" I smiled softly trying to cheer her up best I could. "Aigis I have one request before I go" I said giving her the bag of items "give this to everyone, there'll be a letter inside and everyone's gift is labeled…..you'll know what to do." She nodded taking the bag from me, my time was almost up I looked to see that my friends had all come here too as promised. "They remembered" I said and I closed my eyes as my time was finally up, I had no regrets now.


	3. Inside the seal

At first Minato thought being part of the seal was like being trapped in nothingness, by feeling nothing at all…no sense of feeling, or mobility or even a sense of being aware like being asleep forever. But to his surprise it was but not quite the way he figured. Being inside the seal was indeed like drifting inside a void, but he had a sense of what was happening to him and where he was. The seal it self looked like one big endless void of dark blue fog, with absolutely nothing and nobody in sight. As time passed inside the seal Minato began to feel more and more, lonely…..but he knew in his heart he had done the right thing sacrificing his life to save the lives of others. "I shouldn't be feeling remorse for this" he thought to himself "I saved all my friends, all the people back home, the entire world and you can't ask for more than that." He then laughed to himself a tiny bit as he thought more "Besides, it was my entire fault that the world almost ended anyhow. So it's ok if I get the axe while everyone else lives, after all who would miss me?" he chuckled again this time having a bit of a sad tone this time and then rethought that last thought. He wondered if all his friends missed him or not, he really hadn't considered this till just now. "Nah I'm sure they're all fine, in fact I bet they're better off without me. Yeah, they won't miss me that's for sure." Minato knew that he was only lying to himself when he thought that, he knew Yukari confessed his feelings to him so knowing he's dead wouldn't exactly be a breath of fresh air, he knew that Aigis had feelings for him as well and remembered that she gave him a month more of life and even cried for him when he started to fade away, he also remembered becoming good friends with Junpei, Akihiko, Ken, Fuuka, Koromaru and Mitsuru and he realized that they wouldn't just miss him, he would be the one who really missed them. Minato missed all his friends and through what time that seemed like days, he wondered what they were doing right now and he wondered if he'd ever see them again. He remembered he still had Yukari's strap that she gave him in his pocket, he took it out and began to stare at it and as he did he in a sort, relived all the good times he spent with her. He then thought what she must feel now knowing that he's now dead and from that thought, Minato now felt a sense of guilt. "Yukari, I'm sorry…I'm so sorry." A tear came to his eye as he said it to himself. Time seemed to pass very slowly inside the seal, Minato couldn't tell if it were days passing him or weeks as he continued to just float along the void. It seemed that here Minato didn't have to sleep or eat, all he could do was continue to float and he'd have to do this for eternity considering nobody could take his place….at least that's what he thought at the time. After what seemed like only weeks something finally happened, Minato heard a voice. It was faint at first and Minato could barely recognize it but as it came closer and closer it became more and more familiar.

"Minato…..Minato…Minato" it called out to him as it got closer and closer. The voice became clear to Minato he could tell who it was now as he called out to the owner of the voice.

"Elizabeth? Is that really you Elizabeth?" he called back trying to float towards where her voice was coming from. He could see her up ahead as he floated towards there. Her whole body was glowing with some kind of bright light making her really easy to find in all the blue fog. As soon as Minato finally caught up with her she hugged him tightly as if she hadn't seen him in years.

"Minato, I'm so glad I found you…..I now have no regrets" she said looking up at Minato smiling sadly as tears ran down her face.

"What are you talking about Elizabeth? In fact how did you get here?" Minato said with a confused look.

"It doesn't matter, I can now do for you what I should've done 3 years ago. You never did anything to deserve sacrificing so much…you deserved to live your life after what you did to save the world." She seemed a bit sad in her tone as she said this.

"But I knew that I'd have to sacrifice my life, I was prepared to. I belong here to make sure Nyx never returns!" Minato quickly replied, but Elizabeth just made a small laugh to her self as she began to glow brighter.

"Not anymore Minato, that job is now someone else's burden to bear. I'm glad I got to see you one last time Minato…I love you." She kissed him quickly then pushed Minato away from her as the glowing got even brighter. Minato tried to float back to stop whatever she was doing, but it seemed he couldn't reach her in fact something was pulling him away from Elizabeth.

"Wait, stop! Don't do it, Elizabeth!" he yelled but his voice couldn't reach her, as Minato got farther and farther away he started to lose sight of the blue fog and Elizabeth until suddenly everything became pitch black. For moment Minato's mind was asleep, and unaware of what was happening and then suddenly he wakeup. He was under a bridge of some kind, the sun was rising which reflected across the water under the bridge, as Minato surveyed him surrounds he realized exactly where he was. He was on the world he saved not too long ago and he was alive again.


	4. Minato's letter, Yukari's gift

To my friends,

If you are reading this than it means Nyx is gone, your memory is back and I'm no longer with you. I'm really sorry for all the trouble I caused over the past year, it was my fault everything happened the way it did, but despite that I'm happy I got to be friends with all of you. You gave me a whole bunch of fun memories that I'll never forget, I thank you all for that. I have only two requests, my first request is that you shouldn't be sad for me. I was prepared to sacrifice my life if I had to, to stop Nyx. It was all to protect all of you and the entire world so I have no regret dying so that all of you can live. My second request is that all of you just live your lives the way you want to, the events of the past year prevented you all from having a normal life so I want all of you to do all the things you wanted to do this past year that you didn't get to do because of the dark hour. Me, well I already did what I wanted to be this past year. I got to be a normal high school student for just a month. That's all I ask from all of you, thank you for all you've done for me. In side this very bag I've left some mementos for everyone, gifts to remember me by and to remember all the good times we had. Each of the gifts is labeled with the name of who the item goes to, attached with another letter to each of you. I hope you live your lives happily the way you want, I enjoyed all the time I spent with all of you.

Your friend,

Minato Arisato

~Yukari's gift and note~

Dear Yukari,

I thought over and over of what to get you, it almost tore me apart because I wasn't sure what would be important enough to give you. But then it hit me, you gave me that strap from your cell phone, something that was very important to you so I decided to give you something that was very important to me. You've probably guessed what it is by now right? Since the note was attached to the gift. It's my head phones, the ones I wore around my neck. They were given to me by my parents on the night before they died, they were very special to me and I kept them with me all these years to remind myself of my parents. I'm giving them to you to say thank you for caring about me, thanks for making me smile this year. It may be hard to believe since I sometimes use that "whatever" face but I'm actually crying a bit while writing this. Well, I hope your life is filled with more good memories like the ones you gave me.

Sincerely,

Minato Arisato

Yukari stared at the letter with tears in her eyes, while she held Minato's head phones close to her. "You idiot…you big idiot" she said grasping the head phones as the tears rolled down her face.


	5. Return of the velvet room

Minato truly couldn't believe what had happened, not only did he see Elizabeth in the seal but she did something to make him alive again too. He checked if he had a pulse and indeed he had. It seemed like he was completely alive once more, but just how did Elizabeth do this and what was with that weird light that was around her? Minato thought and thought and thought but he couldn't quiet wrap his head around what happened. "I know, maybe this is just a dream and if I pinch myself I'll wake up" he said to himself he pinched himself only to realize once more that this was no dream. "Ouch, that actually hurt a bit." Minato picked himself off the ground and got to his feet he climbed up the hill the bridge was on to see where he should go next. He walked up to the window of a store and looked his reflection; it seemed he was exactly the same as before he went into the seal, he was wearing his same old school uniform, he had his MP3 player, same gray eyes, same navy blue hair, he was exactly the same as he remembered. "Okay, so I'm alive now…..but what should I do? Where should I go?" he thought to himself as he began to walk down the street. Up ahead he saw one store, unconnected to the others on this street, which had big blue letters on its sign that spelt out "The Velvet room". Minato couldn't believe what he was looking at, but he had to make sure this was real in the only way he knew possible. He had to make sure he was the only one who could see it. "Excuse me, uh sir. Mind if I ask you something?" Minato said to a man passing by "How long has this store been here?"

"This store, well this old thing's been abandoned for years. Nobody has bought it either since its junk." Said the man

"Okay thanks, but one more thing. Why are the lights of the sign on?" The man looked at the store with question and confusion in his look.

"Boy, you might need some glasses because there hasn't been a sign on this store for years either." Minato apologized for wasting the man's time as he knew where he had to go for answers now. He opened to door and walked right into the store, but this store didn't look like an ordinary store. Everything looked twisted and had that familiar blue color filling the entire store, so it looked like a twisted version of foot locker. In the middle of the store was a familiar long nosed figure.

"Hello, welcome to- ah if it isn't my young guest from a few years. I didn't think I'd see you again." The figure stepped out of the shadows to reveal that it was none other than Igor. "But if you're here that must mean Elizabeth has finally done it"

"You mean, that thing that happened inside the seal?" replied Minato, he knew Igor knew something about it now and he wanted answers. "Tell me what you know Igor. Tell me why I'm here!" Igor sat back down in his chair and sighed

"Very well, if you truly wish to know, you've probably figured this part out but Elizabeth has sacrificed her own life to give back yours. But how she did this I'm not sure, she left 3 years ago to save you from the fate that befell you."

"3 years, you mean I've been gone for 3 three years? But it feels like it happened a few weeks ago!" Minato was shocked, what it seemed that time in the seal goes much slower than he ever thought it was.

"Well, getting back to the matter at hand my young guest, it seems to me you're here for a reason once more."

"Yeah, I think I got that part but what for?"

"The answer will come to you in due time. For now try to live your life the way you want, because that is the soul reason for why Elizabeth did what she did for you, do not let her sacrifice be in vein." Minato didn't know what to say, so he nodded his head in agreement. He was about to leave before Igor stopped him for just a second. "By the way, you took a book of mine last time you were here." Minato knew exactly what he was talking about and chuckled a bit.

"Yeah, about that, I gave the book to a friend of mine before I went into the seal…..I have no idea where it is now." Igor sighed as he continued to speak

"Well, it doesn't matter. I can rewrite the entire thing anytime I so choose to, but that's not the real reason I stopped you. There's someone who would like to meet you." Out of the dark came a lady with bright yellow eyes and silver white hair, she looked a lot like Elizabeth.

"So you are Minato Arisato, I always thought you'd be taller but oh well." The woman said staring at him.

"This is Margret, my most recent assistant and Elizabeth's sister."

"No kidding? I kind of figured." Minato said shrugging his shoulders.

"My sister used to go on and on about how great you were, and how much you sacrificed to save humanity. It's actually an honor to meet you Arisato-san."

"Well thank you but I'm not that great. I'm just plain old me, literally."

"Modest too" Margret said "I can see why my sister was so infatuated by you."

"Well thanks, but I got to go. I have to find out the reason why I'm here and the sooner the better." Minato waved goodbye for now to Igor and Margret and began to head out to figure out where to go from here.


	6. Aigis's gift

Dear Aigis,

There are many things left unsaid, many things that I wish I could've done, and many things I wish I could've seen. But if one thing is for sure, I'm glad I met you. Sure, at first it was a rocky start when we first met and I won't lie to you for a moment there I did try to keep my distance from you, but I learned as I got to know you better that you're a true friend. You gave me so much yet I gave so little, I'm really sorry for that, you gave me a month of life and I'll always be thankful for that. You said once that you wanted to be more human; you wanted to be more than just a machine. Well if it makes any difference to you, I think you're more human than you think you are. All the things you've done for me and the others, all those selfless acts, those are what make people human, not what their made of or their appearance, but what's inside their heart and Aigis, you have one of the biggest hearts of all. My gift to you is something that will always stand out and always be a symbol of all the good times you, me, and the others have spent together. I'm giving you my evoker, the real symbol of the dark hour and Tartarus, and that in their place is only peace. My only other request for you is to live the wish you always wanted, never lose sight of it okay?

Sincerely,

Minato Aristo

Aigis was unsure of what to say or do next, all she felt for just a moment was sadness for losing Minato, but she knew now what she had to do. Aigis decided to follow Minato's last request. "Never lose sight of it….." she said to herself.


	7. The reality of the dream

Minato figured the first step to figuring out where to go was to figure out where he was. Minato asked around town and discovered he was far from where he was before, he was still in Japan but he was far from Iwatodia and Port Island, he was in the city of Osaka to be exact. "Damn" he thought to himself "I'm even farther from Iwatodia from when I was in Kyoto." He then paced a bit trying to come up with an idea, an idea that would give him a sign, a clue, a faint hint on what to do or where to go. He remembered that he had yen in his pocket before he became part of the seal, he checked his pocket and indeed it was there. It was enough for a least one or two train rides. "Well I could hop on the train if I wanted to…..but I think the closest thing I know from here is Kyoto and Iwatodia's a bit farther off." He thought to himself for a bit and then went to a payphone and dialed up the only phone number he could think of, the dorm's phone. He waited a bit and eventually got the operator recording.

"We are terribly sorry, but the number you dialed is disconnected. Please hang up and try again"

"That's right, it's been three years. They wouldn't be there anyhow." Minato hanged up and decided that maybe making a stop at Kyoto and then taking the train to Iwatodia next would be better than doing nothing. "And who knows, maybe something will come up in Kyoto" he said to himself. Minato then went to the station, paid for the ride and got on the train for Kyoto. The ride took all day and eventually he got to Kyoto by night fall. Minato got off the train and began to walk out of Kyoto station to plan how he'd spend the night. He had only enough Yen for one more train ride to Iwatodia , and he didn't have enough money to stay at a hotel and be able to get on the train for Iwatodia in the morning. "The trip is more important than the hotel, so looks like I'm sleeping outside tonight." Minato decided to sleep under a familiar looking bridge that he might have saw last time he was in Kyoto, with no blanket or even a pillow Minato fell sound asleep under the bridge. At first everything was calm, quiet, and almost surreal in a way. Minato was at peace as he slept, he slept like he'd been awake forever. Everything was still; everything was quiet, until something unexpected happened. It felt the same as that feeling he had when he entered the velvet room for the first time, but this was no velvet room, far from it. Minato awoke in what seemed to be a pitch black space, there was nothing in front of him and nothing behind him, and he wouldn't know if there was anyhow. "Where am I? Is this….a dream?" He got up on his feet and began to walk forward or at least what seemed like forward. Minato continues to walk and walk and walk until a light began to glimmer in front of him, like it was so close and at the same time so far away. Without another hesitation he ran right toward where the light was, until it shinned to bright Minato could no longer see. His blindness wore off as he saw where he was, he was what looked like a playground for young kids, on very gray looking scenery. In the center of the playground was a small boy, about the age of 6 or 7 by the looks of him, who seemed to be crying for some reason.

"They're gone…they left me…..they left me here all alone" the boy cried still sobbing. Minato decided to approach the young kid since he figured the boy was connected to this whole weird dream somehow.

"Who left you?"

"My parents, they're gone….they left me all alone" the boy sobbed keeping his back still turned to Minato.

"But you're not alone, I'm here too."

"No! I've always been alone, nothing ever changes! They left me on purpose!" they boy cried out revealing his face to Minato.

"Wait…you're…..you can't be…..because….aren't I…" Minato could barely find the words to say, this whole situation struck him like lightning. The small boy in front of him was really himself from when he was 6 years old. There were really no words he could think of to describe the sheer confusion that he felt, then again how would you react if you saw yourself from 10 or 13 years ago? The voice of his younger self then came from behind even though he was still in front of Minato, who turned around to see another version of his 6 year old self. This one was different, it looked the same as the one previously in front of him but this one was all gray and the only color on him was the redness of his eyes.

"You're alone just like me, now more than ever" the gray version of 6 year old Minato said "You sacrificed your life to save not only those that'll betray you in the end, but also the lives of those you don't know. My question to you is why? Give up your life to save others who wouldn't do the same for you?"

"Because it's not a matter of if I'll get something in return or if I'll be famous for it, it's because that was the right thing to do!" Minato replied

"But is the right thing in these times? I say that reason is bull crap, you wanted to be the big hero all along didn't you?" the gray Minato said with a devilish chuckle

"What, no I didn't. I never wanted to be the hero or even the leader on that note, all I wanted was to protect the people I care about…..my friends."

"You're too trusting. You put your trust in people who don't deserve it; you know nothing of the true nature of humans. You on the other hand are so much better than them, you're stronger, you're faster and you held in your hands the greatest power in existence for a time. Why protect them when you can rule over them!" Minato simply shot a serious look and began to respond to the question.

"Because I'm human too, I'm no different than anyone else! I have no right to feel superior or above any other human being and that power I held, it came from the trust in my friends! If it's anyone who doesn't understand humans, it's you!" the gray Minato's eyes began to glow a brighter red than before as it began to transform into something ugly.

"You think you have friends with you…friends as your power, but you're wrong and I'll prove it!" the gray Minato, now some beast lunged for him.


	8. Thou art I and I am thou

As the beast, that was formerly the gray Minato, lunged Minato tried to reach his evoker, but remembered he didn't have it anymore. Instead Minato jumped out of the way, as he got an even better look at the monster in front of him (and yes the younger Minato is still in back of the real Minato). The beast had a very peculiar look, the upper right quarter of its face was the gray Minato's face, and the other 3 quarters seemed to be parts of the arcana masks the shadows always wore. These masks include the magician mask, Hermit mask, and the justice mask. The body itself looked like a big long skinny structure that had three arms and two long skinny legs. In the middle of the chest was the Lovers arcana mask and in each of the three hands were several weapons, including a crossbow, a katana and a knife.

"It seems you do not wish to join my ideals and become one with me…very well then. I was created to either have you join with me or kill you and it seems killing you is the only logical answer now." The beast then lunged once more at Minato, Minato dodged it once more but the beast was relentless and continued his attack again and again until he finally slashed Minato in the shoulder.

"Shit" he thought sprawling backwards as he held his wound "He's never going to stop until I'm dead. To make matters worse I have no weapon and I can't summon my persona. What do I do?" Minato tried to keep dodging the monster the more but the wound he received earlier began to make him slower, this became an opportunity for the beast as he slashed Minato in several more spots.

"Stop it, stop fighting!" the young Minato's voice cried out

"You, you're nothing but a reflection of the past, his sorrows. You deserve to die now!" the beast charges right at the young Minato ready to stab him with the knife, but Minato jumped in the path of the knife at the last second and was able to protect the younger version of himself by having the knife stab him instead.

"Weak as always, you're protecting a boy who's just a figment of your imagination. Why protect such a weak creature?" the beast said stepping back and few steps. Minato simply stood up and pulled the knife out of his back and said

"Because that's who I am!" he tried to step forward but fell to his knees quickly after, the young Minato ran to his side pulling him up to his feet.

"He'll kill you, you know that don't you? So why do you keep trying to fight back?"

"Because I have a reason I'm back and until I find that reason I won't die. So I refuse to lose here." The young Minato smiled and put his small hand on the real Minato's shoulder.

"Then in that case, I'll lend you my strength…..the strength you used 3 years ago." The small boy began to glow and as he did all of Minato's injuries were healed, afterwards the young Minato disappeared and the real Minato got back on his feet.

"You were wrong you know….that younger me wasn't just a reflection, he was a lot more than that and now I'll show you what I'm made of! PERSONA!" Minato's hand began to glow and as it did a familiar voice rang in his head.

"Thou art I and I am thou"

"Thanatos!" Minato yelled out and that familiar Persona from 3 years before appeared by him.

"Impossible, your Persona was locked away! I made sure of that!" the beast yelled out.

"Well you're wrong. You're finished, because you're not me!" and with that Thanatos unsheathed his sword and slashed the beast in half, it soon faded away as did Minato vision of his surroundings. He than soon awoke to see it was morning time and that he was still under the bridge he fell asleep under. "A dream?" he said to himself "It felt so real though. Then again I summoned my persona without my evoker, so I guess it can't be real can it?" Minato stood up and suddenly he heard a ringing voice in his head. It was saying one word and one word only.

"Kobe…Kobe…..Kobe"

"Kobe?" Minato said to himself, he looked in his hand to see that there was a knife he was holding. The same knife he had in his dream. "It was real. Alright looks like I have a lead to go on to then." Minato got his things together and headed back to Kyoto station, he knew where to go now, it seemed like this hint in his head meant something. Minato got the station and purchased for a ride to the city of Kobe.


	9. The recollection

While Minato was on the train he tried to put together what happened in his dream. He was in a gray playground, there were two versions of him when he was six, one of which became a shadow or something that tried to kill him, and he was able to summon Thanatos without his evoker. None of it made sense at all, from what he could guess the other Minato, the one he saw first, was the embodiment of his persona being locked away inside him and that gray Minato was created by someone or something to keep it locked and kill the real Minato if he didn't comply with his wishes. Even with that it still made no sense, what kind of person would go to such lengths to create the gray Minato, try to get the real Minato on his side, and what purpose did this person try to achieve from it? One thing kept ringing in Minato's head over and over, the words he heard from the first version of himself.

"They're gone…they left me…..they left me here all alone, I've always been alone! Nothing ever changes" Minato kept thinking about this, about if that was true. Were parents really like that? It bothered him; it was so hard to remember those he knew 10 years ago.

"Wait I remember, I remember the last day I saw them." He said to himself and he put together the pictures in his mind to fully remind himself of the last day his parents were alive.

~Minato's perspective of that day~

That day, I remember that horrible day. I wish I didn't I wish I still forgot, but I can remember it so clear. Like it happened yesterday, I remember. That morning I woke up excited, that day was my birth day I was turning six years old. I ran down stairs to my mom and dad, they promised me they would be there to celebrate that day. They were always working, I never knew what job they had but they were always at it. I barely got to see them at all. But that day was going to be different, that day they would finally be there for me. I got to the kitchen only to see they were packing up for work.

"I'm sorry Minato but something came up at work and we need to leave right now, it's really urgent" My dad said. Mom then kneeled down so she could be eye level with me and put her hands on my shoulders.

"We know we promised we'd celebrate your birthday with you, but just because we're leaving for work now doesn't mean we can't celebrate later. How about we go to the arcade at Paulownia mall? We'll celebrate there we'll be there, just meet us there after school ok?"

"Ok" I said still kind of feeling down. She then gave me a small box

"Happy birthday Minato" she said as I opened the box. Inside the box was a pair of head phones. They were a bright silver color, the kind of color that shined brighter than any light you could find in the house.

"Thank you" I said, I then gave her a hug before both my parents left for work. From what I can remember, I never had anything memorable about my dad. He was always silent or quiet around me, he always seemed like he didn't have time for me, like I was just an obstacle in the way of his work. Mom always told me that wasn't true but I honestly don't know if I believed that. I went to school like mom said I should, not much happened it was a normal day of school on that end, and once it was over I started to walk to paulownia mall to meet my parents at the arcade like they promised. I stood in front of the arcade waiting for them to walk in and say "Happy birthday Minato! We're like we said." I stood there for hours as I waited for them, but the mall began to close so I had to leave. Soon I was standing out in the dark of night waiting for them, waiting for their usual excuse; I could practically hear it before it happened. It was repeating in my head like a broken record. "Sorry we got caught up in work and we had to stay late." It was always the same with them, they would promise me things, but they never kept their promises. When I needed them most they forgot about me like always. I sat on the side walk for 2 more hours. They finally came by to pick me up in the car when it got very close to midnight. The ride back at first was quiet, but as the moon light bridge came into sight my mom began to speak.

"I'm really sorry Minato. We had to stay late, there was a meeting that we stayed for and then we had to work overtime." I remained silent staring down at the head phones she gave me this morning.

"Didn't you hear your mother? She said she was sorry, you know we can't always make to everything we promise. You'll have other birthdays and we'll celebrate them another time" my dad said in a stern almost emotionless tone.

"You always promise me, you never do it though! You don't care about me at all; all you care about is your job! It's always more important than me or anything else to you! I've had it, I hate you!" I yelled with tears in my eyes. My parents stayed silent, a few moments later they were whispering something, to this day I haven't a single idea to what they were whispering about. Suddenly without warning, something happened. It took awhile for to figure out what happened that moment and even now I can only faintly remember it, but this was the thing that changed everything. The sky and the moon became green and suddenly my parents seemed to disappear. The car then spun out of control, pushing me out of the car. My parents on the other hand, their car went off the bridge and plummeted into the ocean. Something happened to them…they weren't the same in that moment. I found out years later that they were turned into coffins due to the effects of the dark hour. The car on the other hand had an adverse effect to the dark hour for some reason causing it to go out of whack and driving it over the edge. I got up off the ground grasping my head phones tightly in my hand as I walked over to the edge of the bridge where my parent's car drove off. I looked over the ledge to see that there was no trace of my parents or the car, like they disappeared off the face of the earth. I began to cry, I didn't mean it when I said I hated them. It was almost like it was my fault they died. I kept sobbing and sobbing while I kept saying "I'm sorry" over and over. The next part is still a blur to my memory, but what I remember was this. I heard a loud noise on the bridge, so I went to go see what it was. I couldn't believe my eyes, for awhile I thought this part was all a dream. I saw a girl, who looked older than me, she was fighting a big thing in and raggedy mask and cloak. I didn't know why they were fighting and I was too scared to approach the two, so I watched from afar. The cloaked one noticed me and charged at me with his sword. I closed my eyes thinking this was the end, but I was wrong. The girl saved me by picking me up and dodging the blade before it hit me. I couldn't see her face since it was too dark outside, but it seemed she was planning something. She began to glow brightly as a huge blinding light engulfed everything I could see. When I came to it was morning, I was in a police station. They said that my parents were in an accident on the bridge and didn't make it. That's what I believed for ten years and for those ten years I was alone, an orphan with no family and no friends. I didn't trust those around me, and for awhile that was all I knew. Until one day I got the opportunity to transfer back to my home town, Iwatodia, to go to Gekkogan High school and the rest was history. I that year, I won't ever forget those memories, of my friends, my adventures, even my sacrifice; I wouldn't give up those memories for the world.

~end of flashback~

"We're now at Kobe station" the train intercom said, Minato snapped out of his recollection like if it were a dream he had awoken from. He got up and exited the train, now inside Kobe station.

"Oh well" he thought to himself "That day was then, this is now." He then walked out of the station into the lively city of Kobe.


	10. Familiar faces

Minato looked around at this new setting he was in, he felt both blown away and a bit out of place. This was one of the busiest places he had ever been in, which only left one question. Where to go from here? He knew that ringing of the city's name that was in his head had to be some kind of clue, but he had no idea what to he should do once he got there. "Wish my friends were here" he said out loud "Maybe if they were here they'd have some idea of what I should do." Minato stopped walking for a moment, he wondered if his friends were thinking about him too. "Now's not the time to think about that. I can worry about that later, right now I've got something else to do here" he said to himself as he continued to walk. Minato didn't know where to start, he just decided to look around the city and see if anything seemed out of the ordinary. He searched through the remainder of the day, but found absolutely nothing. Everything seemed normal here so far, crowded but normal. "Maybe the clue is at night" he thought to himself "Maybe I should continue the search tonight" but before he could do that his stomach let out a large growl. He then realized he hadn't had anything to eat since he was brought back to life, and he was starving. "Man, I could go for some ramen right now" he said imagining the ramen used to have 3 years ago. Minato didn't have enough yen to stay at a hotel tonight and he didn't have enough to get a bite to eat, so he had to sleep outside without eating once more. This time went to sleep instantly, like before he slept peacefully and was completely relaxed until a dream began to form. This one though, was not like before. This time the dream was more like a vision, like he could see himself as he watched what was happening before him. Minato was in a big blank space as he saw himself looking around. Suddenly someone appeared from the blank space in front of him, it was Ryoji. Minato ran up to him but Ryoji disappeared before he could say a word, Minato then heard a voice, two voices in fact, coming from behind him.

"We are here, now you are not alone." Minato turned around and saw that behind him were Yukari and Aigis standing side by side.

"Okay, my dreams begin to get weirder and weirder as I go along, last time I go to sleep with out eating" he joked to himself.

"One of us will make a choice, a choice that will change our destinies forever and one of us will be in danger, a danger you can prevent if you use the information you will get wisely" said the visions of Yukari and Aigis at the same time.

"I don't understand, what does that mean?" he asked, the two then disappeared and reappeared behind him once more.

"The void, the void holds the key to all your questions. Use those answers wisely; one wrong move could destroy your future" the two then disappeared as Minato felt something warm and wet wake up. Minato opened his eyes to see a dog was licking his face. The dog had white fur, red gentle eyes, and it was carrying a pouch on its back, it was an exact likeness of Koromaru.

"Well, you sure remind me of someone I used to know" Minato started to pet the dog's head. "Still that dream was weird, not like that last one but….still just weird." The dog shook its head getting the pouch off its back, it then pushed the package with its nose toward Minato, it seemed like it wanted Minato to open the pouch. "What do you have there?" he then opened the pouch to what was inside. There was another pouch within the first one, and next to it was a very familiar looking picture. It was the same picture all the members of SEES took after they thought they stopped the dark hour the first time, Minato looked at it for a bit then put in his pocket. He now realized the dog he had just encountered was actually Koromaru, the picture was proof of that. Koromaru looked bigger than the last time Minato saw him, he was now the size of a full grown Siberian husky. "Wow, you certainly grew while I was gone, huh Koro? Did you really come all the way out here just to find me?" Koromaru then jumped on Minato and began to lick his face. "I take that as a yes then." Minato opened the second pouch and couldn't believe his eyes. Inside the Pouch was his evoker, the exact same one from his days in SEES. "Wow, thanks Koro. One thing I don't understand though, how were you able to get my evoker? I gave it to Aigis before I died." Koromaru then barked twice and began to tug Minato's pant leg, gesturing to follow him. "Uh, okay lead the way." Minato got up put his evoker the pouch, put the pouch inside his jacket and then started to follow Koromaru. Koromaru lead him through many twists and turns throughout the city, until finally they reached a college building.

"Kobe University, so the thing you want me to see is somewhere here?" Minato said staring at the university. Koromaru barked getting Minato's attention and continued to lead him through the campus. They eventually got to a dorm building; the two ran inside as someone opened the door to get out. Koromaru led him up the stairs top the third floor and then down the hall, the dog finally stopped at a room at the end of the hall. "So right here then, right?" Minato asked before knocking on the door, it seemed koromaru led him to this dorm room for a specific reason, but what?

"Just a minute" a familiar voice rang, the door opened and on the other side of the door was a girl, about three years older than Minato. She had long light brown hair and her eyes were a dark brown color. She was wearing the university's uniform and was wearing a recognizable heart-like chocker. She looked beyond shocked as she starred at Minato as she was trying to snap out of her speechlessness.

"Minato-kun?" she said with a stutter I her voice. Minato with the same stutter began to reply back.

"Yukari-chan…"

_Looks like things are getting interesting. Leave your comment below if you like this or if you have any suggestions about what I should add to the story. Your idea may make it to the next chapter or so. I'll update soon._


	11. Akihiko's gift

To my friend Akihiko,

Next time we go to Kyoto, I'm settling the score in table tennis. All joking aside, I want to say thanks for the good times I had this year. To be honest if you asked me to fight monsters and save the world before that night the shadow came here, I'd probably say no. But regardless of being thrown into a completely insane sounding situation, I had fun doing it. I had fun because all my friends were there with me while I did all of it and even when I took Nyx on alone you were all with me. Well all I can say is thanks. My gift to you is a paddle for table tennis, because next time we go to Kyoto it'll be table tennis round two. Until next time my friend.

Sincerely,

Minato Arisato

Akihiko held the paddle in his hand as he read the letter. "I'll accept your challenge then, round two." he said to himself "I'll be waiting."

_Yeah I know this chapter was a short one, but don't worry that's not all I have for you this week. I'll update the next chapter extremely soon. Leave your comments if youlike this story, have any suggestions on the story or the gift chapters, or if you just want to say hi._


	12. Reunion

"Well this was something I really didn't think I'd see today" Minato thought to himself. "Well I guess there are weirder ways of starting the day off, and I think I know that better than anyone." Minato was frozen in place and completely speechless, Yukari herself was speechless and frozen as well. Yukari was a bit different from what Minato remembered, her hair was now longer and it seemed like she was now taller than Minato by a head. She was wearing something Minato recognized off the bat, the head phones he gave her. There was a long silence between the two, but eventually Yukari spoke up.

"Wait, how do I know that's really you Minato?" Minato put on a face that just screamed "Are you kidding me?" she didn't really think he was a fake right? It had to be some sort of joke, but it wasn't. She was dead serious. "I'll say it again, how do I know you're the real Minato?"

"What seriously, I come back from the dead, come all this way to one of the biggest cities in Japan and the first thing you say to me is, "Am I real?" that's kind of rude. Why would you think I'm a fake anyhow?" Minato asked with skepticism.

"Well you could be a shadow" Yukari replied.

"That doesn't make any sense at all. One, its day time and two, I destroyed the dark hour so the shadows wouldn't be running around here in the first place."

"Well I'll need more proof."

"Proof, seriously? Okay then, how about this" he said pulling out his evoker and the picture he got from Koromaru. "See here's my evoker and the picture we took the night after we defeated the 12th shadow"

"Well Aigis has been looking for that, but I'll need more proof than that. You could be an illusion."

"An Illusion? How does that- you know what fine, what would prove to you that I'm the real deal?"

"Tell me something only I and the real Minato would know." Minato sighed as he got ready to prove himself.

"Ok that one night all of us went to Shirukawa Boulevard to take down the fourth shadow, everything went hazy for a bit and next thing I knew I was in a hotel room and you came out of the shower in only" Yukari covered his mouth before he could say that last part.

"Okay I believe you! You know you could've said something else like the night of Christmas Eve or something." She then looked at minato a bit there were a few tears in her eyes as she hugged him. "I can't believe it you're here, you're really here. By the way, you're not a ghost right?" Minato put on that "are you kidding me?" face again but Yukari laughed before he could say anything. "I'm kidding, I'm hugging you aren't I? So I'm pretty sure you're not a ghost." Minato the wiped the "are you kidding me" look off his face and began to hug back. "How'd you find me Minato-kun?"

"Well I followed Koromaru here, he showed me the way." Koromaru wagged his tail and barked in response what Minato said, Yukari then walked over and pat his head.

"Aw, good boy koro-chan."

"Hey Yukari, you said Aigis was looking for my evoker, does that mean she's here too?" Before Yukari could say another word the door opened once more, on the other side of the door was indeed Aigis. She looked exactly the same as the last time Minato saw her, only she was wearing a different uniform.

"Minato-san….." she said

"Aigis" Minato replied, before he could say anything else Aigis ran over and hugged him like she did when they met at Yakushima. Minato unfortunately could barely breathe….literally Aigis was hugging so hard that he couldn't breath in oxygen.

"Aigis, I think you're crushing him" Yukari remarked. Aigis let go a bit embarrassed as Minato began to breathe again.

"I'm sorry about that….." said Aigis

"It's ok, I understand." Minato replied.

"One other thing I have to ask though Minato. How were you able to come back?" Minato turned to Yukari and chuckled a bit.

"Well, it's a long story."

_Well now we're seeing some old friends here. Leave your comment below for anything you want to suggest for this story, because if the idea is strong enough it could end up in the story. I'll update soon, and thanks for the feed back so far._


	13. Explanations and Mysteries

And so Minato told Aigis and Yukari everything that had happened to him the last couple of days. How he was brought back to life, the dream that gave him the idea to come to Kobe, and how Koromaru found him. He told them everything, except for one detail, he didn't tell them about his vision the night before Koromaru found him.

"Okay I think I get it for the most part, but I still have two questions. Who's Elizabeth, and what's the velvet room?" Yukari asked.

"Oh right I never told you about that did I?" said Minato feeling a sweat drop roll down the back of his head. "The velvet room is where I got all those different personas from, I'd usually fuse two, three sometimes even five personas to make an all new one. As for Elizabeth she was an assistant to Igor, the guy who runs the velvet room."

"I know what you are talking about Minato-san." Aigis remarked. Minato was confused what she meant b y that though.

"What do you mean Aigis?" Minato asked

"I have been to the velvet room before and I have met both Igor and Elizabeth." Minato was shocked; he remembered that only those who were chosen could enter or even see the velvet room. Did that mean Aigis was chosen too?

"Wait a minute, how come I've never seen this velvet room before?" Yukari said with a puzzled expression.

"Only a select few can see the door and enter the room." Aigis replied

"But others before us have gone to the velvet room, I know that much." Minato said following up to Aigis's statement. "So getting back on topic here, I was lead here for a reason and I need to find out why and what for." Minato said but in his head he was already thinking of something "it could be related to that void thing that vision I saw mentioned" he thought but he then continued on what he was saying "and I won't rest until I" he was suddenly interrupted by the loud growling of his stomach. "Until I get a bite to eat, I'm starving." It seemed Minato's physical limits were finally catching up with him; he hadn't eaten in two whole days.

"Are you ok Minato? You're starting to look kind of pale." Yukari mentioned

"I'll be fine, just soon as I get some breakfast or something." Minato replied. Koromaru then barked to get Minato's attention, as soon as Minato turned around he saw that the dog had a small box in his mouth. Minato took the box and opened it and inside was a burger. "Wow, you really did think of everything, huh boy?" Koromaru yipped with glee as Minato said that. "Where's you get this though?" before anyone could add anything Minato heard a voice that seemed to be distressed.

"My burger, a dog came in here and stole my burger" The voice cried out, he could also hear her friends reassuring her that a dog couldn't have came in here. Minato then turned his attention back to Koromaru.

"While I'm thankful you went to get me food Koro, you shouldn't have stolen it from someone." Koromaru made a slight whine after Minato said that "Don't worry Koro, its ok. Next time I'll just buy a burger ok?" Minato then realized that he was also low on yen since he had used what he had left on the train ride to Kobe. "That's right, I'm kind of broke right now, but uh getting back on topic now, I won't rest until every question I have is answered." Yukari and Aigis nodded in understanding to what Minato was saying.

"One thing though Minato, where will you be staying till then?" Yukari asked.

"Staying? Well come to think it, I never thought about that at all. But I've been sleeping outside on the ground for the past few days, so I'm sure that'll do for now.

"Can I suggest that you stay here?" Aigis added. Yukari nodded in agreement to Aigis's question.

"She has a point you know, it's not exactly safe to sleep outside in the city. You're lucky you haven't been robbed yet."

"But is it alright for me to stay here? I mean this is a girl's dorm and all."

"No problem at all." Yukari said with a smile "But there is one thing you'll have to do. Make sure nobody see's you. Trust me, senpai would have our heads if she knew and she's already skeptical about Aigis as it is."

"Well okay, I'll get a job or something while I'm here that way I can work up enough to stay in a hotel. Until then I'll stay here, thanks for letting me stay." Minato said grinning a bit. "Hey by the way, how have the others been?"

Yukari let out a sigh as she answered his question "Well as far as Junpei goes, I hear he got a job somewhere back in Port island, Mitsuru Senpai is working over seas somewhere to take over the Kirijo group, Ken's actually in middle school now, Fuuka is studying abroad in America, and I believe Akihiko Senpai is training to become a police officer."

"Sounds like they got their work cut out for them, do you all keep in touch?" Yukari let out another sigh as she heard Minato's other question.

"Well Fuuka sends an email from time to time, and we sometimes get a letter from Ken, but I haven't heard from the others since two years ago."

"Oh well, maybe I'll meet up with them another time" Minato said with a sigh. "Thanks again for letting me stay here" Minato said standing up again "I'm going to go into the city to see if there's any jobs open."

"Okay, we'll see you later then" Yukari replied.

"See you soon Minato-san" Aigis said waving to him. Minato waved back and headed out into the city. Meanwhile something shadier was happening from a distance of the dorm. Someone or something, covering its face was watching Minato from a roof top. He seemed to be communicating with someone over a phone.

"No he didn't see me, he's met up with those two former members of SEES though" said the weird figure, whoever was on the other line seemed to be asking him a question. "No I haven't an idea how he returned without releasing Nyx, I have less of an idea of why the universe card isn't with him either. It seems that will be forever lost inside the seal. So what should my next course of action be?" The voice on the other line gave the mysterious presence an order. "You're right, for now he's no threat and as long as he never finds the void he'll never be any threat to us." The shadowy figure hung up the phone and then disappeared in the blink of an eye.

_Who could that have been? What is the void? And what does any of this have to do with Minato? Keep reading the new chapters to find out. And if there are any suggestions you want to see in this story comment this story, because who knows? It may end up in the next chapter or so. I'll update as soon as I can._


	14. He went for a walk

Minato figured the easier way to find a job was to look through the job listings in the local News paper. He still had a tiny it of yen in his pocket and with it he bought a news paper. There were several job openings that seemed like good ideas and were listed as shown below.

**Help wanted, assistant hospital janitor-** Understanding needed, makes an okay pay, you may gain determination.

**Help wanted, Mc Doodles employee- **Takes determination to work here, you may obtain courage from working here, the pay is very minimum on the minimum wage food chain. You are aloud to make your own food free of charge.

**Help wanted, book store employee- **We need help in he Manga section.Knowledge needed. You may obtain expression and knowledge from this job. The pay is alright.

**Help wanted, Hotel bellhop- **Pay is decent, and we'll provide you with a room if you need it. Expression and diligence can be gained here.

Minato stared at the paper and then said to himself "Who writes job adds like this anyway?" He then thought over his options and decided to work in the hotel, since he had enough knowledge and would be provided with a room, but he would have to wait till Wednesday since today was Tuesday and the job's working days were Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Minato was about to head back to where Yukari and Aigis were but something suddenly came out of nowhere a bumped right into him knocking him down. Minato looked in front of him to see that the one who bumped into him was a girl. She looked to be about his age, light brown hair and a strange red eye color. She looked distressed as she realized she had knocked someone down.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I didn't see you there" said the girl's voice as she helped Minato up. "I was in a real hurry. I'm extremely late for school."

"Oh it's okay, don't worry about it." Minato reassured her. The girl starred at Minato for a bit almost like she was trying to remember something. "Um…..are you ok?"

"Uh, yeah sorry about that I blanked out there for a second. You seem kind of familiar, like I've met you before" she said snapping out of what seemed like a trance. "Um, I'm Kimiko Eri by the way."

"Nice to meet you I'm Minato Arisato." Kimiko smiled and then looked at her watch.

"Oh, I still got to go," she said as she got herself together and began to run towards her school. "It was nice to meet you, maybe I'll see you again!" and with that she disappeared from sight.

"Man, so within the past few days I've come back from the dead, fought myself in some kind of surreal dream, followed a dog to two of my friends from three years ago, and finally met a random girl who bumped into on the street and some how instantly become friends. Its official my life sounds like the plot of an anime" Minato jokingly thought to himself. He then began to walk back to the dorm since he couldn't think of anything else to do at the moment. Minato snuck back in sneakily as possible, and as he was he began to think of something. "Hey didn't my return seem a bit….hollow? I mean it's like Yukari and Aigis were keeping their distance from me for some reason… maybe I'm just paranoid I kind of wish it was a little more heart felt though." He knocked on the room's door, it opened suddenly and before Minato could tell what was happening next his lips were light touching Yukari's "Oh, wish granted" he thought to himself.

_Sorry for the long delay, I worked really hard on this one though. That aside It's not the best chapter I've made…well you all know the drill by now, comment what you'd like to see in the show and I may just add it in. I'll update as soon as possible._


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